When firemen fight fires, they must oftentimes go onto a roof and cut holes into the roof for ventilation. To achieve this, a fireman uses a roof ladder with hooks which attach over the ridge board on the top of the roof to allow the fireman to climb up the pitched roof. The fireman must take a chain saw or an axe up the ladder so as to be able to cut a hole in the roof while standing on the rungs of the ladder while the ladder lies flat along the upper surface of the roof. This is a tedious and dangerous procedure which will cause serious injury to the fireman if he should slip and fall while standing on the ladder and trying to cut a hole in the roof, either with a chain saw or with an axe.
Because of the drawbacks associated with this procedure, a need exists for improvements in the way in which a fireman faced with a situation of the type described can be more safely locked onto the ladder while performing the jobs which are required, such as cutting a hole in the roof with a chain saw or an axe. The present invention satisfies this need as hereinafter described.
Prior art in this field of safety attachments for ladders include U.S. Pat. No. 2,381,812 which shows an attachment for the ladder of a fire truck. The attachment is to be mounted on the upper end of the ladder to provide a coupling for the upper end of a chute. By securing the upper end of the chute to the attachment, the chute can provide a means for evacuating persons from a multi-high storied building.